Writings of Blessed Anne of Bartholomew (mirror)
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"One day I spoke to my confessor of one of my soul's secrets,
and he did not take it well ; he said to me : "That sounds to me like
Mother Teresa; go on now, do not be like her, let those things
alone." It seemed to me that he pronounced these words with
but little esteem for our holy Mother. I was grieved because of
this, and sought a solitary spot in the garden. There, deeply pained
at the thought that the Saint was not appreciated as she deserved,
I began to pray. Soon I entered a state of supernatural recollection,
and in this state saw the Divine Master approaching me under the
form He had when living in this world. He was robed in a most
brilliant pontifical cope. When near me He raised one side of the
cope — it was the side next to His Heart — and showed me the Saint
resplendent in glory; He held her on His arm, as if she were no
longer anything but a part of Himself, and said to me: "Behold
her, I have brought her to you here ; be not at all troubled ; let them
say what they will." After these words He disappeared. I felt
within my soul a profound recollection and deeper fervor at the
sight of the love God bore the Saint.
On another occasion I begged the holy Mother to obtain for
me from God the favor of knowing which of the virtues was most
agreeable to Him, for I was impelled to make every effort to acquire
it ; one day she appeared to me and said : "My child, it is humility."
Very often the holy Mother strengthened me by a sentiment
of love and by a heavenly odor of which I was as conscious as if
I had been near her holy body. And though she did not show
herself, I was aware of this perfume and the favor she did me in
keeping near me. I will give a very striking example: Once I
was overcome with fatigue; all the religious were ill, there was
only one Sister and myself able with difficulty to keep on our feet
and to wait on ourselves. I went to the tomb of the Saint and
said to her: ''Mother, come to my aid; see me here before you, my
body so crushed with fatigue that I cannot keep up. Give me
strength ; I desire it only to serve all my Sisters." I felt the con-
viction that she heard me and that she said to me : "Go, my child,
I will do what you have asked of me." I went to the kitchen and
scarcely had I commenced to stir the embers than I noticed the
perfume of the Saint, as if she were there; there came forth from
the ashes an odor similar to that exhaled by her holy body; this
odor communicated such strength to my body that not the slighest
trace of fatigue remained. My body had no more feeling than if
it had been a spirit. There was not a shadow of lassitude, and
this supernatural strength continued with me until all the reli-
gious had recovered health. Very often the pans and everything
I touched in the kitchen exhaled the odor of the relic of her holy
body; it was something marvelous; one would have declared that
she, herself, had touched these objects with her hands."
